(edited.2020.04.01)
Locked Away, Chapter 23
Kicking open the familiar metal doors, the young Waterflower gave a long sigh. Slipping her bag from her shoulder to the corner of the gymnasium, she sighed at the reflection in the pool staring back at her. She was dirty, her hair was in tangles, her clothes were wrinkled, and she had dark rings under her eyes. In the water, the lights were on, the pokemon were swimming happily, the filters had been cleaned, the faint smell of lunch lingered in the air but Misty only shuddered. A noise echoed from every corner of the lively gym, from Daisy humming in the kitchen to Lily blasting music from the living quarters up the stairs.
It was loud and all-too familiar.
Empty.
Her shoulders felt unbelievably heavy on her torso, her head even heavier than that. Naturally, she dropped her head until her chin fell against her collarbone and she let out a loud sigh that Daisy did not acknowledge. The bell didn't sound when she opened the door, so she walked back to the door, reached up, and clicked the buzzer with her fingers to reactivate the sensor. Without sparing a single word, she scooped up her bag and she made her way upstairs, undetected.
Life moved on, her sisters seemed to go about their normal lives, with or without her. The gym was still in one piece, and Misty was sure that everything was well taken care of. Daisy always came through for her in a pinch.
Sliding her feet down the long hallway, she made her way into the back room of the gym, only to be met with a wave of loud music upon opening the door. Lily was playing one of her dancing games on the large television in the living room, and Violet was nowhere to be seen.
Misty tunneled through the living room quickly, dipping past Lily and directly to the door of her bedroom where she stiffened, glancing at the guest room she had lent to Ash for a month.
If she hadn't missed him before; it hit her now in tidal waves.
Slowly, she slumped against her door, and then rest her forehead against the wooden surface. Would he be okay out there on his own? Did she sentence him to death by handing him a temporary license? Should she be worried? Her head hurt at the thoughts that penetrated her mind, and she slowly twisted her doorknob to enter her room.
It was the exact same way she left it; her pokemon gear and objects were strewn about, the comforter was a mess, and she had discarded clothes in the hamper. However, after being gone for so long, it felt more like a jail cell than a bedroom. Inhaling the musky odor that penetrated the bedroom—opposed to the typical wildflowers and berry scent from her perfumes, she opted to take a quick shower before getting started on late gym duties. Most likely, a pile of paperwork waited for her, more than usual. She also had to sign for some badges, check the food levels—only, with a drawn sigh she stripped out of Ash's clothes and tossed them sparingly on the bed—she didn't feel like it.
For once in her life, Misty Waterflower did not feel like being a gym leader. For a moment, she ached to be that kid again, the one who threw down her gym license and declared to her sisters that she wouldn't be back until she was the best water pokemon master the world had ever seen. For a moment, as she slipped into the bathroom she had shared with Ash, she wondered what it would have been like if she had traveled with Ash when they were younger. She made light of the situation, telling him that anything could have happened back then—but frankly, she would have enjoyed the company. Misty's journey, through Kanto, Johto, and parts of Sinnoh was lonesome; there weren't a lot of pokemon trainers, and those who were trainers were older, typically. When Team Rocket was waiting around every corner, most people feared to show off in public. Being who she was, Misty was never scared of Team Rocket.
Was Ash?
"Aaahhhg, stop it, girl." She swore to herself, scrunching up her face and running the palm of her hand down her profile.
She slipped into the shower without another thought, turned on the tap. Remembering that Ash would not be accidentally barging in anymore, she let out a throaty sigh and placed her hand against the back of her head to flick her wet hair. Even though it was the first hot shower in a week, she was finished quickly—habit, mostly. Steam poured from the shower and it should have relaxed her, but it did not. Her nerves wouldn't settle.
In the foggy mirror, she saw Ash's handprints sprawled over the mirror. Rather than wiping the steam from the mirror with a cloth, like a normal person, Ash used the palm of his hand because it was 'faster'. His set of bathroom supplies was stashed on one corner of the ceramic top, so when she reached for the towel he typically dried with, she had to stop herself. What was she doing? Grabbing her normal towel instead, she wrapped her body and approached the mirror to look at herself. Her hair was longer, too long. It matted to her neck and shoulders. Her right eyebrow was bruised the slightest bit from when Ash headbutted her in route twenty-five, but her growing bangs covered the damage. Down from that, she brushed her fingers against her right cheek and a blush crawled over her pale skin. There was that as well. It left no visible mark, but the thought, the memory was there.
Misty exhaled loudly, her chest falling rapidly as she rubbed the side of her cheek, remembering still the feeling of his warm lips pressed into her cold features—what exactly was that? He mentioned his mother, his mother! She knew she could be motherly, but did he think of her as a mother-figure? Her face paled as she leaned forward to bury her face in her hands, resting her elbows on the countertop to regain her thoughts.
Even if Ash thought of her as a mother figure, it didn't matter anyway. Pressing her fingers against her eyes hard, trying to burn the image of Ash out of them, she nearly jumped out of her skin when a knock came to the door.
"Misty, is that you?" Daisy's voice echoed into the bathroom, and Misty scrambled for appropriate words.
"Yeah, it's me." She finally offered, weakly, while pulling and tugging on her hair. Daisy breathed from the other side of the door in relief.
"I'm glad you're okay." She said, adding quickly; "Did you and Ash sort everything out?"
Misty inhaled, steeling herself for the 'talk' her sister would likely force on her. "Yeah we did."
A pause.
"What happened with his mother? Was he okay?" She asked quickly, her tone worried. Misty pulled on her bathrobe while flicking her hair over her shoulder and combing the strands quickly.
"He's as good as he is going to be," Misty confirmed, reaching for the doorknob. She hadn't brought in a change of clothes, so she needed to rummage through her things. Daisy stared at her when the door gave way, her blue eyes blinking worriedly at Misty, who wasn't aware she was scowling.
"And you two? Is he mad at you?"
"No, it's fine," Misty said, dancing around her sister and to her dresser drawer where her normal clothes were. She never thought that she would miss her clothes so much! Daisy didn't seem to accept the answer. She huffed.
"Then where is he?" Daisy asked, sounding almost like an angry, protective older sister—Misty chuckled under her breath. How accurate. Against her will, Misty watched her sister in surprise.
"What do you mean?" Misty asked, and Daisy shrugged her shoulders.
"Well, his mom didn't accept him, did she? So that means he must have came back with you." She said pointedly, and when Misty didn't reply right away, Daisy's mouth fell ajar. "His mom did want him?"
"What? No." Misty said hotly, snapping back to reality. "He just... needed to go on a journey." Misty specified, being as vague with her answer as possible. Daisy liked to talk, and so if she spilled the beans that Ash was, quite literally, following his dreams, she wouldn't keep her mouth shut.
"So you two didn't makeup?" Daisy asked weakly and Misty let out a strangled grunt of frustration.
"We did, but he still wanted to travel," Misty assured Daisy while slipping on her undergarments and throwing the first overly large shirt she could find in her closet over her shoulders. For a moment, she was grateful that Daisy hadn't seen her wearing Ash's clothes—that would have been a nightmare to explain.
Daisy seemed flabbergasted, missing a point somewhere along the lines. "And you let him go? Is that where you were all this time?"
"Yes. I traveled with him to..." She couldn't very well tell Daisy, her eldest sister, the worrywart of the four of them, that she went off to fight a charizard based on a hunch, so Misty did what she did best. She told a half-truth. "We took a detour, found a town and made some discoveries," Misty mumbled but Daisy caught her right away.
"You mean 'battled a charizard in route twenty-four?'" Daisy's tone was icy as she corrected her baby sister, and Misty turned at her with one foot in her sweats and blinked, having been caught. If she already knew, why did she make a big deal about it? It was a deadly arrangement, cerulean blue meeting cerulean green in a staring contest.
"...How...?" Misty managed and Daisy stomped her foot. Suddenly the parchment tucked under her arm was glowingly apparent.
"Your face is all over the news! Did you read about what happened with Bill's lab?"
"What?" Misty hissed once more, stepping closer to her sister. Daisy slammed the folded papers onto the foot of Misty's bed and her eyes bugged out. Truly, her name was highlighted at the top of the front page newspaper—but not any newspaper—the Indigo League National paper.
"Misty Waterflower trumps raging charizard" was the title, and Misty felt her nerves ruffle. Daisy was playing her.
"You could lead with that, you know." She scolded but was nowhere near in a position to belittle Daisy.
"You could have been killed, Misty! Just what were you and Ash doing!?" Misty tried to roll her eyes; hadn't she yelled at Ash about the same thing?
"We got lost trying to find something." Misty said calmly; Daisy didn't know about Ash's dreams—not in detail, and Misty wasn't willing to explain them right now. They still sounded crazy to her! "We stumbled into route twenty-four..."
Daisy seemed to froth at the mouth. "Really?"
"Really."
"So you didn't stop anywhere else? You just got lost?"
"I feel like that's a trick question..." Misty laughed nervously, and Daisy threw up her arms angrily.
"Brock, the Pewter City gym leader, he called a few days after you left to get Ash. He was wondering if YOU and ASH were around to talk to—something about dreams and battling." Daisy's foot was rattling on Misty's carpeted floor, and from that moment on, Misty knew she was being hounded, and her defenses rose.
"Why do you care anyway? I was taking care of business." Misty hissed defensively while scrounging through her backpack for her long-forgotten phone, and reached over to plug it into the charger which was still right beside her bed. Daisy didn't heel at all.
"So you went to Viridian City." Daisy hissed. "You found his mother—then he convinced you to go to Pewter City? Where you realized instead of coming home you would find a charizard!?"
"Where did this come from, anyway? Who wrote this?" Misty asked, grabbing the paper from her bed curiously and looking for an address.
The only people that should have known anything about the situation was some small town and Ash and Misty—Ash was further from town than she was...so this news getting out so early, it was unheard of. If anything, the news should have come directly from Misty or Ash. Gritting her teeth, she wondered if her complaint to the league about a suspicious town out there would even be recognized now.
"I don't know, I thought you might have said something!" Realizing that Misty was not listening to her, Daisy growled and snatched her by the shoulders. "Misty! What's going on with you!? You're never this reckless!" Daisy grabbed her youngest sister, reeling her around to face her while worry danced behind her blue orbs. Misty swallowed hard as her hair fell behind her with each gentle shake Daisy forced onto her. Slowly, Misty looked away from her slightly taller sister and to the window where the gleam of the light brightened her bedroom.
"I..." she shrugged off Daisy's grip. "Don't worry about it anymore. I'm not going anywhere now. No more adventures." Misty assured the woman, but that wasn't good enough. With tears in her eyes, Daisy wrapped her arms around Misty's shoulders and squeezed the young woman.
"I was so worried about you two..." She hiccuped and Misty felt the stream of her sister's salty, warm tears trickle down the side of her cheek. Ahh, Daisy was always a crier.
"I'm sorry, Daisy..." Misty tried, but the elder sister only continued to sob as Misty noticed another two pairs of eyes watching her from the door. Lily and Violet watched the exchange sadly, the two of their lips quivering gently when Misty waved them over to smother her as well. There was nothing left to do than to accept her fate. They pounced on Daisy and Misty, wrapping the two females into a tight hug and muttering their sorrows into the huddle, all the while Misty wondered if this is where her insistent worries came from.
"Guys, I'm fine. Ash is fine, too." Misty offered in an attempt to get her sisters to relax. One by one they peeled away from the redhead and found themselves seated on her cushion white-comforter, sniffling.
"We really missed you. When the headlines came out and you didn't call, we, like, thought you had died for sure." Violet said while Misty approached the headline to skim through the article. It wasn't detailed and a lot of the information was botched—most clearly, Ash was nowhere mentioned in the article. It was primarily about Misty and her gyarados; glorifying her in the media by stating how wonderful it was that she cleared the path in the forest for trainers. However, nowhere in the article was the small town mentioned; or even Bill's lab.
"Daisy, how did you know about Bill's lab?" Misty inquired thoughtfully.
"It's on the page right after yours. A horrible storm went through all of route twenty-five and washed out half of the infrastructure there; including Bill's house."
Slowly, Misty turned at her sister, who was still gently wiping her eyes with her wrists and Misty fought the urge to scream loudly. Misty had been in that storm; she saw Bill's house with her own eyes. While it was a powerhouse of a storm, Bill's house looked to have been ruined for years. Misty cracked a smile, she wouldn't worry her sisters about this though.
"And did they mention a small town near Bill's house? With a well-lit tower?"
"A small town? There's no towns out on route twenty-five, Misty. You know that." Daisy said matter of fact, and Misty stifled her sigh. Instead, she chuckled in disbelief and shook her head.
She really wished Ash was here, he'd get a kick out of this.
XOX
Clueless to the events of the world, Ash stopped a little ways out of route nine, holding the map that Misty gave him earlier that week up to the sky. He twisted it one way, and then another, and then sighed bitterly. He couldn't read the map, because during the rainstorm most of the pictures washed away.
"Pikaaa chuu." The yellow mouse whined from his spot beside Ash, and Ash reflected the thought.
"Yeah, I know buddy. Me, too." Ash agreed and scrunched up his nose. Togepi had been the most silent of the three of them. Its small feet scuffed from the harsh dirt, it probably missed home about as much as Ash did right now.
It hadn't even been three days since they parted ways, and Ash already missed her natural ability to read maps and navigate through forests. He had been going in circles for most of the day, but at least it wasn't raining.
Ash was sure that he found primeape somewhere out here when he was younger. The pokemon, who was a mankey at the time, had stolen his hat and danced like a wild monkey across most of route nine—yet, here Ash was; standing between a rock and a hard place. He had already walked the length of route nine, stumbling upon the famous rock tunnel, which was "Closed for repairs", and discovered the sign that led around the rock tunnel and into Lavender Town.
On his travel, he discovered a couple of wild pokemon; but nothing compared to primeape. Nothing compared to seeing charizard again. So Ash did want any smart trainer would do. He wandered off the path, heading south towards route eight through the forest. Up until then, he had gotten lost between what felt like a million trees, he thought that he was going in the right direction.
They spent the better part of their third day walking in circles with togepi and pikachu both complaining about his terrible navigating skills.
What did they expect? This was a lot easier in his sleep!
When they sat down for lunch that afternoon, they took station on a stump in the middle of the forest, where pikachu hissed at Ash for almost sitting on him.
"Sorry," Ash mumbled, cracking a toothy smile that made pikachu forgive him in an instant. The elder pokemon sighed, and then rest against the stump while togepi paced back and forth for a moment, and then found its way back to Ash.
"Toge, toge, brrree" It mumbled, to which Ash pursed his lips.
"I think you spent to much time with Misty, togepi." He grumbled first, "There's no way that he's not here. Charizard was still on route twenty-four, and squirtle was still near Bill's lab. Primape's gotta be around here somewhere." Ash mused, though the small egg pokemon only sighed.
Unlike Misty, it didn't have the determination to argue with Ash's flawed view of the world, and it also didn't carry the blind faith that pikachu carried for Ash. Togepi was warm water in an icy river.
"Well, we better get going," Ash said, hoping up, giving them almost no time to rest. Both pokemon sighed but followed after the determined trainer. Continuing blindly.
XOXS
After a few more hours of wandering, lost in the woods between route nine and eight. Ash, scowling, finally sat down at an opening in the forest and sighed. Sure, he had thought about it. The thought crossed his mind once or twice... but why would he find charizard, and squirtle, and pikachu—only to not be able to find primeape? Ash rubbed the back of his neck and grit his teeth tightly.
Right away, his initial thought fell to Misty; normally, he would have asked. "What do you think about this?" and she always had some sophisticated, logical, usually rational answer for him. But she was not here right now; and no matter how loud he shouted, no one would reply.
The sun was nearly down now. Sitting in a forest with two pokemon alone wasn't exactly his idea of a good time. Two nights on the road were enough for him to understand that larger pokemon were more active at night, and in this nice weather, he wouldn't doubt that the forest would have more of them than the primary travel route.
Though, he shouldn't have been scared, right? He had pikachu, and togepi, and if worse came to worse, he had charizard. Yet, charizard would be one of those last-ditch efforts because even Ash knew that dry wood caught fire easily. Tiredly, he looked up as pikachu and togepi slumped against his arms and sighed dramatically.
Once again, he looked down at their exhausted faces and gave a loud sigh himself whilst rubbing his face with his gloved hand. He searched most of the rocky gorge of route nine, through hordes of diglet, and a few rock pokemon, and was now pulling strings to check the forest—originally, he had intended to go out only a little way, but one thing turned into another, and well, he was lost now. Most of the pokemon were in hibernation, but as Misty had warned him before, the worst are the ones who don't sleep in the winter.
"Pikkka. ka. Pikapi!" it barked behind Ash, having shed a lot of its extra weight already, it was looking rather muscular when he wagged his tail at Ash, mocking him.
"Okay, I admit it, I'm lost," he said—though the three nights they spent tucked under a tree on route nine and jumping at every noise should have been their first clue.
Traveling wasn't easy, Ash thought bitterly while pinching the bridge of his nose. When he was with Misty, he at least had someone with a little more experience than him to guide his bad decisions in the right direction—without her, he wasn't even sure which way was north, and he sure as hell didn't have a compass to check.
"Toge." The egg rattled on for awhile following pikachu's comment, in a fashion sort of like a child would—but with all the bite from Misty. Ash's shoulders drooped, but he gave no reply.
Their food rations were low, but the weather held up. Rainstorms were not frequent, the sun was out for most of the day, and while it wasn't enough to disturb the insistent chill in the air, it was enough to keep them warm and moving.
But nice weather and decent luck did not change the fact that they made zero progress.
Ash was naturally an optimist, he had to be after everything that happened to him. A ten-year coma starting his very first day of being a pokemon trainer, discovering that all of his friends were not his friends, his life experience was crap, his vision of the world was wrong, his mother didn't want him, his father figure was dead, squirtle was stone, his best friend was... was...
His heart thundered in his chest, and he collapsed onto the ground in a huff, spreading his arms out and looking up at the twilight sky, rubbing his scalp with his long fingers. At the thought of Misty, he hesitated his long list of 'bads', and twisted his lips into a pout. On the other hand, his pokemon remembered him, he had a little brother, he was healthy-even though Misty tried to remind him that he wasn't supposed to be—he had friends, he had togepi and pikachu, and most importantly, he did have something to live for. He glanced at the egg pokemon and pikachu.
Pikachu was helping togepi clean off some dead grass that had gotten stuck in the top of its shell, and brushed the egg clean of dust, cheerfully exchanging words. Ash hadn't noticed it before, but pikachu had a natural fatherly aspect about him since they reunited. Outside of his general complaints and sarcasm to Ash, the mouse watched out for togepi more than either he or Misty could. Pikachu was still uncharacteristically devoted to Ash, sharp-tongued, but he was also calmer. Much calmer. He no longer lashed out offensively but rather clung to his defenses bravely. Much like the pokemon had matured in his dream world.
Ash hummed while twisting uncomfortably, he sat up and rubbed his hands together. Really though, his problems could be solved easily if he simply called charizard. Yet, Ash couldn't do that. He had yet to explain the full situation to the dragon, and he wasn't ready for the talk yet. Looking at charizard reminded Ash about how much he really messed up in this world; his pokemon were stuck remembering a guy they didn't know was real, and here he was, doing little about it. Ash sighed loudly and removed his hat while shaking his head. His body ached, the bruises he obtained from the initial attack had not healed yet, and he was beginning to think to visit a doctor was his best idea. Since Misty left, he could not wrap the bandages around his torso on his own, so he took his chances to let them heal without. Between feeling like needles were trying to burst from his skin from the inside out, he was also sure he was fevered. That might have been the long walks though.
He chuckled to himself. He promised Misty he would go to a clinic in the next town; however, he did not tell her when he would be in the next town, or if he could even afford it. He knew he needed to, but he also had to see his adventures through. He said he would go so Misty wouldn't worry, but frankly, he'd spent enough time in recovery to know he didn't want to go through it again. Snorting, Ash realized now how childish it sounded, but his eyelids weighed heavily. Pikachu and togepi spoke on top a tree stump a foot away from him. Their voices were a lullaby for the long-time-dream trainer and Ash inhaled, and released thoughtfully. Finally, he allowed exhaustion to take over his body as sleep washed him into dreamland once again.
For only a moment before he passed out, he wondered about Misty; his mom, his brother, and the rest of his pokemon—wherever they were, if they were happy, or if they were sad... if they missed him at all? More importantly, if they knew he was real.
XOX
Throughout the start of his personal journey, Ash tried to talk with charizard about what happened while he was gone, but was unsuccessful. He tried to ask about his thoughts and feelings-but whenever Ash started to ask, he'd stumble. How did he start that conversation? Hey, sorry you thought I was imaginary. Sorry you had a hard life, so did I! Wanna start over? His attempts sounded insincere. Ash turned fitfully in his sleep, the cold ground flush against his hot skin. His dreams were drought with fears for his pokemon. The fears that they would all be stone, like wartortle. Maybe it was worse? Part of Ash, wondered if wartortle turned to stone because he waited for him for too long.
Pikapi! Pikachu called out to him, warning Ash. However, his mind swirled with images of his previous collection of pokemon; where he found them, what they could be doing. He hoped they were safe, at the very least. Maybe they had families, like Pikachu. Asleep, Ash's face scrunched up, listening faintly to the sounds of pikachu screaming in the background. He often had nightmares, screams of frustrations and agitation, so at first, he covered his ears and turned over. He was so loud sometimes.
"Pika pi!" frantic, the pokemon pounced on Ash, waking by catapulting onto his gut.
Drowsy, Ash rubbed his eyes and glared at his mouse companion, who was slightly bruised. Had he always been bruised?
"What's going on, pikachu?" Ash asked groggily, but his answer was reciprocated by the sound of an enormous hiss beside him. Ash jumped when the fangs of a very large and pissed of ekans hissed beside him. The snake hovered over togepi who rolled away during their nap. Ash scrambled to his feet, and collected pikachu in his arm; he reacted without thinking.
"Pikachu thunderbolt!" Ash yelled, physically throwing the pokemon forward. Pikachu tucked and then spread out its arms as it flew forward. Lightning flickered from its cheeks and its entire body swayed once the surge was released from its body like a conductor.
Ash jumped back, steering clear of the blast radius, while togepi ducked inside of its shell and rolled away. Faster than Ash expected, the lightning made contact with the snake, rubber banding from him and lit up the entire forest, which until that moment, Ash hadn't realized was so dark.
He swore at himself, assessing the situation. How did he fall asleep in the middle of the forest?! Only moments after agreeing to himself that it was a terrible idea. Yellow eyes darted around him from behind bushes as pikachu promptly fell to the grass upon frying the snake. Ekans was stunned for only a moment, but then with his next move, he coiled into the forest, leaving the trainer and his two pokemon standing in the field.
"Get ready." Ash murmured as pikachu raced back to his side; togepi, a bit slower due to its shape found that rolling was faster than walking, and propelled itself forward.
"I didn't mean to fall asleep. I'm sorry guys." he told the pokemon, but neither seemed to mind.
In the silence of the trees, a faint rattling bellowed followed by numerous hissing. Sweat trickled down the back of Ash's neck while pikachu hiked up onto his hind legs and growled in response, wanting nothing more than to ignite the entire forest with its lightning. His red cheeks sparked and he snarled, awaiting the next attack.
Ash acknowledged that they were already at a disadvantage, he, pikachu and togepi could not see in the dark—but more than likely, the predators could. On top of that, they were likely surrounded. How could he have fallen asleep like this? Did anything that Misty tried to drill into his brain stick? Because of his negligence, they most likely had stumbled into a nest of viper pokemon; hunting in the dead of winter at night time when its prey least expected it.
"Are you ready pikachu, togepi?" Ash mumbled under his breath, loud enough for only his pokemon to hear. Truthfully, they had never talked about tactics, they never really trained, he was only three days into an adventure on his own! Ash tried not to think too much that this was their first real battle outside of Brock. Ash felt himself grin pathetically. How exciting.
Ash inhaled to calm himself, recalling Misty's words of advice. In the wild, anything goes. From the right, a purple blur flashed before Ash, but he reacted before it pounced on him; even though his reflexes weren't battle-ready yet, his eyes were.
"Pikachu, to the right, thundershock!" he called, and like clockwork, the mouse bounced over with another eruption of electricity crackling from its body and into the direction of the opposing party. Unlike ekans, the massive creature dodged and slithered around a tree for protection before coming back out to face the group. Leering at Ash were wide, sharp, dangerous yellow eyes. Twice as large as the ekans, the purple monstrosity's crown shook when it hissed at Ash.
"An arbok..." Ash muttered under his breath, watching the body slither downward, stalking its prey with its cold eyes. It circled them threateningly.
"Pika pi pika!" Pikachu called to Ash. His jaw cocked in response.
"He wants to challenge you?" Ash inquired, back stiff. With the hissing of ekans around him still, he wasn't so sure battling was the best idea—but what could he lose? Pokemon were not all vicious, they must have still had some rules. If they defeated arbok, the rest should back off, right? Believing this, Ash nodded.
"Then we'll battle."
"Piiiiika!" With a shout of confidence, continuous blue sparks erupted from pikachu's cheeks, and Ash exhaled to calm his nerves. Beside him, togepi offered his confidence with a chirp and hopped up onto the stump nearest them.
Ash wasn't alone. He could do this. He only had to account for the weaknesses of this world's pikachu. Which meant, he needed to think on his toes if he didn't want something like his battle with onix to happen again. Ash vaguely recalled a list of pikachu's basic moves while he chewed on the inside of his cheek. The cold chilled his lungs but his brown eyes never left arbok, who's long tongue slithered between his fangs in an attempt to intimidate them. Luckily for Ash, pikachu's mentality was still as strong as his heart, otherwise, they would be in another situation entirely.
Unlike charizard, whose attacks were abrasive and full of rage, arbok's were calculating, malicious. When the pokemon charged at pikachu, Ash saw through the attack.
He's going to try to coil around him, Ash thought confidently and threw his hand forward to initiate the attack. "Dodge and use thundershock!"
Leaping faithfully into the air, pikachu skillfully avoided the pokemon, which had used its gaping mouth as a distraction for moving its tail. The attack missed, thanks to Ash's keen eyes and a silent thank you was spared between pokemon and trainer before pikachu let out another lightning attack—this one landed solid. A terrifying yowl escaped the viper's jaws and it retracted near the edge of the forest to use the darkness as its advantage. Pikachu landed a backflip onto the dirt and dipped his head low, feeling the adrenaline from battle. He shared this same vigor as Ash, who stepped back.
"Use quick attack!" He commanded, and the mouse sprung forward. Since his battle with Brock, pikachu's movements already doubled. The walking that the pokemon did over the course of the week helped increase its speed sevenfold—however, arbok rose quickly, its trained eyes saw pikachu even during the rush of the attack and prepared its counter by lunging forward.
"Dip under it's jaws and use tackle!" Ash shouted quickly, changing his command when he saw arbok's response. When arbok pressed forward to strike pikachu it mostly whiffed on air again. His massive snake body compared to pikachu's small frame was too slow. He managed to clip the end of pikachu's tale with its teeth, but pikachu successfully dove beneath the monster's large bite and then resurfaced with a solid hit into the snake's windpipe.
"Good Job!" Ash snapped his fingers, elated; arbok did not share this same excitement as it hacked from the crushed windpipe.
Carefully pikachu rolled away from the attack, huffing. His tiny heart fluttered in his chest, naturally, he would have finished arbok off with an iron tail, or an electro ball—but Ash had other ideas entirely.
"Finish it before he gets up with a thunder attack!"
"Pika!" The pokemon yelped, forgetting the mess of close range thunder. Above, a roar of loud sparks raged, and Ash glanced at the sky to see a shade of darkened clouds. A shot of lightning connected with pikachu, and erupted from his body, striking the staggered pokemon before him. A magnificent display of lights bounced through the forest, scattering and intimidating the remaining snakes. Ash and togepi covered their eyes to protect themselves from the blinding lights created by pikachu's blast as a loud cry of agony shot through the intense boom of thunder. when the dust and lights settled, Ash saw the limp body of arbok, smoking from the ground.
He grinned in victory, met with pikachu's own over confident snarl. Years. No, never, had Ash and pikachu truly battled in this world; and it felt so insanely natural Ash almost jumped as adrenaline beat through his veins. He grinned like a mad man.
Only, the battle wasn't over yet.
Pikachu turned to Ash after their perfectly synced battle, when another ekans shot from the forest, biting for togepi once again. Apparently, all rules were out. The stealthy snake having gone unnoticed by Ash who's eyes were on pikachu until it was too late.
"Pika!" The pokemon shouted, projecting itself forward just in time to push the egg out of the way.
"Pikachu!" Ash shouted aggressively, turning to see the damage. Blood gushed from the bite pressed into the small rodent's body, followed by a spray of green-ish saliva. No, Ash's eyes went wide—not saliva. Poison.
"kaaa..." The rodent limped while the ekan's jaw unhinged to finish the job.
"Toge!" The egg shouted, having returned from the roll it was pushed into from pikachu. Not thinking once about his decision, Ash's hand moved on its own accord.
"Charizard, use flame thrower!" Ash shouted, and in one blaze of glory, the dragon shot forth from the ball. Its wings spread like an angels, but fire poured from his mouth like a devil.
Ekan's dropped pikachu when his cold body was pierced by charizard's flame. It coiled, then recoiled, and finally, let out an insufferable yowl before it burned to a crisp. Ash and togepi raced for pikachu, with togepi screaming incoherent babble at the pokemon for jumping in front of it. Togepi was fine, he could take care of himself, now pikachu was poisoned!
"Kaa." pikachu mumbled sarcastically while Ash tore off his jacket to wrap the bleeding punctures. Beside him, charizard's eyes widened with anger. He spun angrily in the small clearing assessing each of the remaining ekans that crawled out of the forest. Apparently, they had a death wish because charizard released a roar loud enough to be heard for miles and shook the earth beneath Ash's feet.
XOX
The quiet of the forest was usually undisturbed at night. Usually, the night was calm and humming and sleeping pokemon and the distant sound water. The tranquility was majestic and soothing. Most trainers and pokemon knew to find rest and stay on the beaten paths so the stealthy pokemon would starve by negligence. So, when the blueish pokemon awoke at the sound of terrifying howls, he peeled itself away from the ruined shack where it slept and stared into the dark forest. Confused by the squeal of anguish by... a pikachu in the distance? The pokemon crept to his four stubs and marched forward into the forest. Quietly into the night, the pokemon followed the distressing noise. Usually, the pokemon did not bother to help dangered pokemon. If they didn't know better than to stay hidden-why was it his business to help them? He was done helping pokemon and trainers, they never returned the favor... and yet, the small grass pokemon felt inclined to follow the noise. As he stepped into the shrubbery of a low bush, his red eyes widened at the sight of a trainer with shockingly familiar black-hair battling alongside an all-too-familiar pikachu. The creature that cried and created massive displays of light was so familiar... so...
"Pikachu, I got you!" The black-haired trainer screamed as he caught the yellow ball after it was discarded by the snake that attacked it. The fire pokemon barreled fire into the forest, scaring away most of the snake pit.
this terrifying power was made worse because after charizard blasted the snake into oblivion, it did not stop. It's terrifying flames bounced from the snake, to the trees and grass-and the trainer reeled with no chance of stopping it, though he tried.
"Charizard, calm down!" He yelled.
A bloodcurdling scream released from his snout, scaring away the last of the snake pokemon in the area as the keen eyes peered at the trainer. He held up his one hand, trying to convey to the dragon that he was still on his side. That the pikachu was injured... but the small pokemon hiding beneath the brush jumped out without thought. Somehow, in some way, the trainer's voice called to him without addressing him. Vines whipped out of the tree line and smacked charizard across the head, and the pokemon revealed itself.
"Bulba-bulbasaur!" The pokemon scolded while the evil eyes turned on him instead.
"Bulbasaur?"
The grass pokemon turned meekly from the corner of the field, to stare at the keeper of the voice. of that voice. Ash. Ash was real. Ash existed. Ash...
"...Bull..." The pokemon started, but was rudely interrupted by charizard blowing out another torpedo of fire at the hiss of a snake.
"Charizard, that's enough!" Ash demanded, peeling his glance away from bulbasaur for only a moment. His brain raced, and he had to focus. Too much was happening and the smoke-ah, the smoke. Ash grasped the collar of his shirt and pulled it up over his nose as he cradled pikachu in his arms, and stared painstakingly at bulbasaur.
"...I...I don't have time for this-" He hissed, and collected togepi from the stump where he was resting. "I don't know if you're mine, and I can't stick around to find out right now-pikachu is injured."
"Bulbasaur!" The pokemon cried, running without hesitation to the small group. His voice settled the flames of anger within the fire pokemon, but Ash's stare only burned anger into bulbasaur's chest. Ash hesitated, the grass pokemon, unlike charizard, was so forthcoming, proclaiming that he waited for Ash but he never came! With a smack, he whipped Ash across the face with a vine, and it might have hurt more, if every nerve in Ash's body wasn't already in shock. His hands were full, so rather than touch his fas, he gawked at bulbasaur. Ash thought he saw a tear, but with the flicker of the expanding fire, he couldn't be sure.
"...cha..." The mouse whined pathetically in Ash's arm, apologizing to bulbasaur. The sound of the injured pokemon sent vibrations back into Ash's brain, he wasn't just surviving for himself now. Bulbasaurs temper tantrum would have to wait.
"Charizard, you need to fly us to the nearest city, and fast." The fire pokemon hesitated, his eyes narrowed but Ash wasn't having his sass at the moment. "Now!" he yelled, followed quietly by, "...Please..."
With a breathy snarl, charizard apologetically lowered its head for Ash to climb on top of for a second time. Ash tossed togepi up first, and then with one hand, mounted charizard with a hop. He wrapped his legs around the base of his neck, right before his wings and cradled pikachu into his stomach. As the fire brightened the forest, Ash glanced down to bulbasaur, who did not move since slapping both him and charizard.
"Are you coming?" Ash asked abrasively. He looked at bulbasaur who couldn't believe his own eyes, Ash's lips were turned into a thin frown.
"...saur...?"
"It's a long story that I promise to tell you after I've taken pikachu to a pokemon center." Ash urged, knowing that charizard had been awaiting this dreadful talk as well. Reluctantly, the grass pokemon hung its head in approval. After all, what was left of the forest now? Ashes? Charizard swooped forward and picked up the grass pokemon with its short arms and circled back around through the air to the nearest city, getting directions from bulbasaur below.
Ash leaned forward when the wind hit his face. His cheek brushed the side of togepi's shell as he listened for pikachu's ragged breathing, and sent out a silent prayer. Poisons were not notoriously lethal... to trained pokemon. Pikachu wasn't 'trained' right now though, and he was a small rodent. In the end, pikachu's, rattata, and other small pokemon were ekans and arboks main courses in the forest. Their venom was potent, and Ash only hoped that pikachu was resilient.
"It'll be okay." He spoke silently, praying that he wasn't wrong.
XOX
Ash recognized the Silph Co. tower from anywhere. In his dreams, the looming tower was already massive, but in the real world, it was practically an entire city all on its own. It towered over the Saffron tower only a few city blocks away-which was...massive. Ash had never seen cities so large. The pungent smell of sewage and pollution replaced the scent of smoke in his nostrils, and Ash pressed his nose against his sleeve as they circled. Saffron City was the largest city in Kanto, home to millions of residents of Kanto—and the city was only growing bigger. In the distance, large propellers of construction lights flashed and gleamed bright orange, blinding him.
Over the small flight, Ash grew more comfortable riding on charizard's back, but he was still hunched over togepi and pikachu protectively while he scouted for a Pokemon Center in the horde of flickering lights. With the heavy wind, and now the sound of busying traffic, Ash could not hear pikachu breathing any longer, and his chest grew cold.
The city may have been alive, glowing light a night light below him, but he felt dead inside. And stupid. He was stupid. Mew, how did he let this happen?
"Brii!" Togepi pointed out from behind Ash's arm. The first center they saw was on the outskirts of town, away from the hustle of the city. Inwardly, Ash thought that might be his first break of the evening. If living in Cerulean City taught him anything, it was that centers in smaller areas were frequented less, and typically asked fewer questions than their mainstream counterparts. They also had quicker services.
With a compliant roar, charizard naturally swooped down, tucking his wings to drop swiftly through the air. Ash's lungs emptied, and his stomach churned at the sudden drop in pressure. Falling from the sky was a lot like diving into a pool of water: to the inexperienced, it was terrifying, and yet so satisfying.
Ash stopped himself from screaming by biting his tongue. He didn't need to draw more attention to himself. Instead, he gritted his teeth as the woosh of the dragon's wings spread to stall their dash. A trashcan tipped over, several people scurried away from the diving charizard and his trainer, but they arrived at their destination.
Charizard landed expertly outside of the pokemon center's doors when Ash kicked off his shoulders.
"Thank you," he shouted over his shoulder, but Ash did not spare a glance to his remaining three pokemon, who shared a worried glance upon landing.
Hey watch it!
Do you even have a license to fly! Damn!
Voices shouted disapprovingly at Ash as he ran away from charizard and into the pokemon center. When Ash rushed to the counter—he felt all too nostalgic. Flashbacks of the same routine from the first hour of his dream world made a pit grow in the bottom of his stomach. Ash bumped into the counter, almost flailing his arms while the other three struggled to get in through the sliding, automatic doors.
"I need help."
A nurse, or someone who looked like one, reacted by crossing the threshold of the counter and removing pikachu from his arms.
"Oh no. How long has be been poisoned?" She asked.
"Uh, just about thirty minutes." He stammered, glancing at the door where he heard the sound of sirens. The nurse brushed aside Ash's hands as she began a check-up with her fingers. She tapped over a few of pikachu's major veins, then pressed outside of the wound which pulsed green fluid. She reeled in frustration.
"Why didn't you return it to its pokeball?" She hissed angrily and Ash shook his head, awestruck.
"W-what?"
"It's pokeball? Don't you have one?"
"It's well..." No, I don't have it. "I've never needed to use it before...and..." Ash stammered and the nurse scowled cradling pikachu as he had moments ago.
"Are you insane? Without an antidote or being returned this is..." she trailed off, "How do you plan to prevent the escalation of injuries after battles?" She hissed as a well-groomed chansey stumbled from a door, pushing a metal stretcher. Ash barely noticed the glares other trainers tossed at him or even the judgemental gaze of the nurse. The sound of his own heartbeat fell on deaf ears.
However, the sound of the sirens grew closer, and he swallowed while watching pikachu. His skin was cold and clammy. Calm down. He told himself.
"I just...Can... can you help him or...?" Ash's gaze fell out of focus as he turned from the stretcher, back to pikachu. Why was she still holding him? Stop asking questions and help him.
"You didn't steal this pokemon did you?" a strand of her deep turquoise hair fell into her face and Ash struggled to find the proper words.
"No."
He would never steal pokemon, but he didn't exactly have a license to flash, either. Did Misty license him yet? He knew she said not to show off charizard, but what was he supposed to do in this situation? Suddenly, his mouth was dry, his ability to speak gone. Desperately, he wished that Misty was here, she always had a way of talking him out of poor situations. A solution to a rather unorthodox problem.
But she wasn't here.
No, he was alone. He swallowed, narrowing his eyes. The nurse wasn't convinced as she placed pikachu down onto the stretcher that chansey immediately started to roll back down the hallway, and the nurse spun to grab the phone.
"I'm sorry, I'm going to have to call-" Ash touched her hand, placing the phone back onto the ringer.
"I just got out of the forest between route nine and eight. Pikachu's pokeball was broken during a battle with a nest of ekans—please. I...he needs your help."
The answer seemed to appease the nurse, who looked deep into Ash's eyes. Her emerald ones reflected almost the same look that Misty gave him time-to-time. Disappointment? Frustration? Either way, she nodded.
"You're lucky," She whispered low, "If you had seen anyone else in here, they would have sent you away."
The sirens were practically blaring by this point, and Ash nodded.
"Thank you." he turned at his remaining pokemon who resigned to sit right outside of the pokemon center to wait for Ash, rather than continue fighting with the door. He exhaled the breath he'd been holding the entire flight.
"When will he be ready?"
"A few hours, give or take. It looks to be only a paralysis poison. We'll take good care of him." Her words did little to settle his stomach, but he offered her a boyish grin that seemed to bring a smile to her own features.
"Thank you." He forced.
"Again, you got lucky." She reminded him before pulling on a pair of latex gloves and following down the hallway after chansey.
Breathing in, and then out, Ash forced his nerves to calm themselves and then spun on his heels to the exit. The smell of sewage blasted Ash in the face when he expected fresh air. His face screwed up as he glanced over the sirens.
"We should get inside..." he said flatly, as someone else echoed Ash's sentiment.
"Get your pokemon out of here!" someone shouted.
"This is a no flying zone!" Another person yelled and Ash grit his teeth. Before charizard could reply with an angered roar, Ash instinctively returned him, and put up his hands. A precaution.
"Sorry. It was an emergency." Without looking at a single face or hearing another complaint, Ash spun back around and approached the doors.
"Follow me?" He asked bulbasaur while togepi jumped onto Ash's shoulder.
With the briefest twinkle in his eye, the grass pokemon complied and followed Ash through the sliding glass doors. They marched from the lobby with their shoulders high, to the waiting area outside of the emergency room. The small group was the only people there, so Ash took a seat across from the large glass windows and kicked out his awkward silence wafted between them, but Ash rubbed underneath his cap and twisted his backpack off his shoulders. Togepi finally slipped onto the side of the bench beside Ash, and nuzzled into his arm for comfort.
"Togepi..." Ash started, though he hadn't realized himself until that moment that he was also shaking. It'll be okay. He wanted to tell the egg, but the words never came. It was his fault they were in this situation. Misty had constantly pestered him to be safe, to think things through; and still, he ended up taking pikachu into emergency care, still, he ended up in a life or death situation. Still, he screwed up.
Carefully, Ash tucked the pokemon against his chest and held him against his body using the same jacket he wrapped pikachu with. Poking its head out slowly, togepi blinked its dark eyes at Ash, tears had dried in the corners of its eyes and it sniffled while looking in bulbasaur's direction. The grass pokemon waited patiently as Ash let out a loud exhale, and then released charizard once more—in the privacy of the waiting room—away from the stares in the lobby.
"I owe you both an explanation," he mumbled, looking at the both of them while also trying to put pikachu's recovery in the back of his mind so he could focus.
XOX
Ash never imagined a scenario where he would need to explain what happened to him, or that it would be so difficult. Pikachu always knew that Ash existed in some form in this world because they had a bond before he fell into a coma. For the rest of his pokemon, this was not true. The rest of his pokemon thought he was imaginary the same way that up until a few days ago, he thought he would never see any of them again.
Over the better part of an hour, Ash told the story of the recovery from his coma and how he was convinced that it was all a dream until reuniting with Pikachu. He talked about his mom, about the dream world in general; and about his struggle through recovery that finally led him to his pokemon once more.
In fewer words and more grunting; charizard and bulbasaur explained that they thought Ash was not a real person. Only a figment of their imagination. Bulbasaur admitted to staying in the abandoned shack in the forest long after Barbara left to take care of new pokemon, while charizard admitted to remaining on route twenty-four... the only difference was that squirtle sought him out with the squirtle squad.
Squirtle believed in Ash. He believed that Ash was real—and believed in all the memories that he and his pokemon shared. Charizard was never sure why, but he never turned down the chance to not be alone. The plan was to reunite with all of his pokemon someday, but between sleeping spells and general navigational confusion, they wound up at Bill's lab during the onslaught of Team Rocket's terror.
Ash didn't question that it was Team Rocket who destroyed Bill's lab. After what Misty told him about that town. He wasn't surprised. Charizard confessed that the battle was foggy and he wasn't much help because he was blasted away after squirtle evolved. From what he remembered, wartortle took on several of Team Rocket's members in an attempt to save Bill. During the midst of battle, while charizard tried to find his way back, there was a blinding light, and everything went dark. He awoke on the outskirts of battle, in the treeline. The battle was over and everything was destroyed... The only thing left of wartortle was a statue.
Alone and terrified, charizard evolved. Understanding the town was a base for Team Rocket, charizard took to protecting route twenty-four from non-suspecting trainers, and drove them away the best way he knew how. By doing this, he protected squirtle and his memory, and protected other trainers. A funny way to protect people, but as he finished telling his tale, Ash's eyes watered.
That was why there were no bodies—charizard killed no one. He hadn't been crazy. He had only been trying to protect people. Ash wiped his eyes —ashamed to cry in front of his pokemon. They were the ones that lived in uncertainty for years, and he was the one crying. Togepi, however, was no stranger to tears and they fell freely from his cheeks.
"I'm so sorry I wasn't there," He muttered, his bottom lip quivering.
Before his tears fell, a vine wrapped around his shoulders affectionately. Bulbasaur offered a few words of encouragement, telling Ash that it wasn't his fault. Ash wiped at his eyes with his sleeves. Bulbasaur, who spent the better part of ten years alone in a cabin, was taking the information far better than Ash did. In reality, whether Ash had been real or not, Bulbasaur never managed to accept another trainer—and so he stayed there. It was his choice to stay behind and protect pokemon and the forest and wait. Always waiting.
About an hour after talking, the hulking beast that was charizard fell asleep in front of Ash, while bulbasaur took to sleeping in the chair beside Ash. The trainer himself refused to sleep, watching through the glass windows opposite of him.
It took him a few painful hours to realize that the sirens were not for him, but for the forest. The dry spell in the forest allowed the flamethrower charizard created to spark a wildfire. The forest was almost brighter than Saffron City\. Smoke blazed from the tops of the scorched trees and he saw helicopters dropping pools of water on top of fire, creating white smoke.
Unsurprisingly, trained large water pokemon such as blastoise—which in this world rivaled the size of charizard easily enough, and others were used to put out the flames closest to the city. Blinking once through tired eyes, Ash felt his chest pull. This fire was his fault. The sirens should have been after him. More so, he should have felt guilty—but mostly he felt relief. Selfish relief that he made it on time and his pokemon were okay—mostly.
"That wasn't you, was it?" The nurse drew Ash from his thoughts. His eyes were puffy from lack of sleep, and encrusted in tiredness. He was on his feet in a second.
"Is he okay?" he countered.
"He is fine. He just needs rest." The nurse assured him, extending a cup of coffee to Ash. He took it reluctantly, and then sat back down with the nurse taking a seat beside him, not minding the sleeping charizard at his feet or the bulbasaur snuggled beside togepi.
"You know, if you had gotten any other nurse, you might be in jail right now." She reminded him, swirling her coffee before taking a sip. Ash clutched his beverage between his palms and didn't reply. He watched her instead.
"Anyone can tell you're not a licensed trainer. With such powerful pokemon as well..." she ho-hummed at him, her face a mixture of amusement and curiosity.
"I'm sort of licensed." he mumbled and then clarified; "I'm a student of one of the gyms in Kanto."
"Ah, I see." The nurse said while watching a helicopter buzz around and drop another pool of water on top of the fire in the distance.
A pause.
"I heard your story." The nurse muttered, holding her coffee to her lips. Visibly, Ash flinched.
"More importantly, I noticed you can talk to pokemon." She said quickly, not waiting for an answer. Ash turned his full attention to her and bit down on the inside of his cheek.
"That's a rare ability you have there... that, or you're crazy," She assured him playfully. "Some people would kill for a talent like that." She added, implying something that Ash was too tired to examine.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"I mean you shouldn't be so open about it. It's not normal to leave pokemon out of their pokeballs—or be able to understand them."
"Misty said that, too."
"Ahh, so the Cerulean Gym is your home?" She hummed, and even though Ash shuddered at the word home, he nodded solemnly.
"Why? Is it a rarity?" Ash asked, looking at the woman who clucked her tongue. Realizing that Ash wouldn't be drinking his coffee, she offered to take it from him. He complied apologetically.
"You need to be more careful." She offered blatantly. "What did you say your name was?"
"Ash."
She smiled at that name. "There are bad people in this world, Ash. Not everyone will be your friend. Some of them may even try to manipulate you for your talents."
His eyebrows furrowed, confusion dashing across his face; having no clue why this woman was telling him these things.
"If what you've said is true about your dreams, maybe there is a bigger reason waiting for you."
"A reason?" Ash inquired, his voice pitching.
"Sure. Certain events happen for a reason. You have a gift for a reason; don't let anyone take that from you."
"...why would... How could someone take that from me?" Ash wondered, folding his arms across his body.
Her shoulders fell. "Just be more careful, after this."
"Why are you helping me?" Her words were kind, but for whatever reason, off-putting. Maybe he wasn't used to people being kind, but it shouldn't have surprised him. Thus far, most people had been kind.
The woman smiled. "I don't know. You had a look in your eye when you spoke earlier. I like you."
He couldn't help but grin at her response; Misty often said something along those lines to him as well.
"Thank you." he replied earnestly, taking a solid look at her for the first time since she sat down beside him. She was standing now, wearing all baby pink scrubs, with dark turquoise hair that was down to her waist. He knew her.
"Is your name Suzy?" He asked, and she turned with a bit of a smile. He noticed the name tag above her left breast only now.
"Yes, it is."
Weren't you a pokemon-breeder at one point? He wanted to ask but retracted the question. "Thank you, Suzy." He thanked her properly, to which the woman gave a chaste grin, and waved briefly at Ash before parting.
"I'll bring pikachu out and set you up with a room free of charge tonight." She only barely glanced back at him. "Make sure you get some rest."
His heart grew warmer and he shook his head, looking among his pokemon brightly. "Thanks..." he said, mentally noting that everything happens for a reason.
XOX
When Ash finally settled into his private room, he released charizard from its pokeball once more. Even though charizard accepted Ash, he was struggling to adjust to being in a pokeball. Charizard took a flopped next to the window with a huff and wrapped himself into a sleeping position. According to Suzy, the reason injured pokemon were returned to their pokeballs, was because they were 'safe havens' for pokemon injured during a battle. It placed pokemon into a temporary stasis, essentially freezing their damage until they can be healed at a pokemon center.
"Consider getting a new pokeball for this one." She said sweetly while placing a sleeping pikachu into his arms.
Asleep on the bed beside him, togepi nuzzled into pikachu's stomach, while bulbasaur naturally coiled them with his vines, protectively. Ash glanced at charizard by the window and slipped out of his sheets. Tearing the top comforter off his bed, Ash tip-toed to the pokemon, but his bare feet clicked against the wooden floors, waking the sleeping pokemon.
"Go to sleep, buddy." Ash murmured, throwing the blanket over charizard's back and wings, and brushing it down to tuck him in. Briefly, charizard's tail flickered as Ash took a seat at the wooden desk beside the small dragon, and gave a low huff, holding his chin while he glanced over his shoulder to the pokemon on his bed. So much happened. Thoughtfully, Ash snatched a paper from the desk drawer and the pen near the phone.
"Misty," he wrote along the top left corner of the page, his tired thoughts drawn out a moment later—illustrated with cartoon drawings of him getting lost, pikachu winning, charizard's accidental fire, and finally, a scribble of his pokemon all sitting together calmly.
He judged himself for a moment, thinking the illustrations were quite childish in the scrawl of the writing—but kept them anyway. A coping method. When he wrote in his journal at the nursing home, he had done the same thing in several places—it was his way of avoiding what he really wanted to write. He stalled and looked at the bottom of the paper which remained untouched by his crazy illustrations and scribbles. Surely she would laugh at him.
"Apparently," he wrote neatly, "I was a dream to my pokemon. I" Ash paused thoughtfully, a twinge in his chest as his face scrunched up in the silence of the room. Tears wetted his eyes but he blinked them away.
"I don't think I'll ever see them all again."
He wanted to include everything else: that he screwed up, that he wasn't sure what he was doing. That he passed out in the middle of a forest, nearly got pikachu killed—started a forest fire, scared togepi half to death, found bulbasaur, lost primeape, and came to the realization this was going to be much, much harder than he could have ever imagined. Despite the waterfall of thoughts, his hand froze over the page and wrote nothing.
Misty would have most likely told him to stop being a baby and to quit complaining. He shut his eyes, trying to visualize her words; but only silence whispered back. His eyes flickered open as he looked over the crappy letter once more, and licked his lips.
"I believe in you."
Right. Ash thought while setting the pencil down and rubbing his eyes. When it mattered, Misty was never critical with him—in fact, she was nothing but kind and supportive; like she had been throughout his recovery. She was always there when it counted. Sniffling, he dusted the page off with his fingertips. When it counted, her words of wisdom pushed Ash into the correct formation; pried open his insecurities, and carefully mashed each one until it was hardly visible. She had done so first by proving to him he had the strength to recover, next the courage to accept his new life, and finally, the faith in his ability to follow his dreams. A smile twitched onto his lips.
He didn't bother to sign his name.
As he folded the letter neatly, he wasn't sure about sending it. Writing down the events of the last couple of days brought joy. Helped get all the negative emotions out of his system. To write down that he was scared helped him face his fear, and walk through it. He may have feared that not all of his pokemon were around anymore, or that he wouldn't be able to find some of them because they moved on... or worse, that there may have been some like wartortle who were... Ash couldn't bring himself to think that more of them could be gone.
Silent tears trickled down his cheeks, neither of sadness or joy. He wiped at them as he watched the injured pikachu. Things could have been much, much worse. Ash needed to stop pretending everything was exactly the way it was when he was asleep. He needed to learn more about how this world functioned to prevent any more losses. To prevent any more pain. Ash set his head down on the desk and exhaled loudly.
He could do this, he just needed time.
Author's Note:
Welcome to part II. (we have cookies)
"It's okay to be scared, but don't let that fear overpower your mind and control you." - John Connolly, The Book of Lost Things
As usual, if you feel like something doesn't make sense, let me know and I will discuss my way of thinking with you to see if that helps.
NINT